It's official!

Helene is walking!

She can take at least 5 steps now, but still prefers to crawl because it gets her where she wants to go so much faster. I also put her in the forward facing carseat for the first time today and she absolutely loved it!! She kept "talking" and smiling to me in my rearview mirror. So cute!

I would include a video clip of her walking, but I still can't get my photo card to read in the computer. Lame. *sigh*

As a side note. Apparently, Conan got himself a Twitter account today. I may actually cave in and sign up for an account now. I miss him.

It's not a good thing...

...when your computer stops recognizing your scan disk in the H:\ drive (so I can't update the blog with birthday party pictures), AND the next day when you turn it on...you get just a blue screen with the hp logo.

Yeah. Not good.

So you go into panic mode, right? Because N O T H I N G is backed up.

6 years of pictures

6 years of tax returns

emails

resumes

recipes

NOTHING.

So you try again.

Shut off.

Wait.

Turn back on.

Blue screen again.

You silently have a heart attack and all you can do is pray that it will just turn on one more time.

And the third time's a charm.

And so you immediately sign up for this.

I'm not being paid to endorse them. I'm just trying to not have another freak out the next time my computer won't load and it's officially dead.

So, not sure when I'll be posting about the birthday party...or anything else in the near future, for that matter.

Because really, let's be honest. Who wants to just sit and listen to me ramble without looking at pictures of adorable kids?

That's what I thought.

Happy Birthday Helene!!

Man, has this year just FLOWN by.
I can't believe my baby Helene is one year old today.
* She now weighs 20 lbs--not sure where she puts it though as she is still quite petite and will definitely be in 6-12 month clothing for quite a bit longer.
* She is so close to walking.
She is steady when standing and has taken two steps, but no more than that.
* She can say "mama" and "kitty".

* She just adores Pumpkin and he adores her. They sleep back-to-back on the bed together every night and during naps.
( I took a picture of them last night, but my memory card isn't working in the computer, so I can't upload it.)

* She loves to eat...and boy, can she EAT.
I absolutely love that about her.
* She loves to take baths.
* I love the little monkey noises she makes when she wants something.

* I love that she loves to cuddle.
* I love how she pretends to be chewing when she wants to eat something that I am eating.

* I love that she pats me on the back
when she is sleepy or scared.
* I love that has her own little sense of humor and will do things just to see if I will laugh at her.

* I love how excited she gets when she sees her brother and sister--even if it's just a photo of them.
And they love her so much!
She is still the most easy going baby and brings me so much joy.
Happy First Birthday Helene!
We're so glad you're part of our family.

Helene's Birth Story

**This is really just for my record and will probably be boring and go on way too long for some of you. It shouldn't be too TMI if you do want to read it. I left all the gross stuff out. haha**

I never got a chance to write out Helene's birth story. If you know the stories of Sammy and/or Hannah's birth--you will be so glad to hear how quickly and easily it all went. And if you don't know...ask me sometime.

We had a small family celebration with cupcakes for Sammy's birthday the night before and every time I walked upstairs, I could feel a sharp pull in my groin. Contractions? Maybe. I wasn't too concerned since I had my OB appointment the next day.

I slept well and went to my appointment at 10am that morning. My doctor checked me and I was at a 5. I was thrilled. I had him strip my membranes to get things going since I wasn't having any noticeable contractions. He wanted me to go upstairs to the hospital and check in, but I told him that I had to go home and pack (yes, I am a procrastinator) and make arrangements for the other 2 kids. He agreed, but wanted me back ASAP.

By the time I packed and Sam got together what he needed, and we dropped the kids off and were finally on our way, my doctor had already called twice to see where I was. Since it was my third, he had some concerns about the baby coming quickly (ummmmm...not if you recall my previous two deliveries) and he was afraid I would have the baby in car--plus I'm GBS positive, so he wanted to make sure I got at least one dose of antibiotics before the baby arrived.

On our way, there was an accident on the 110 (of course) and it was shut down while they moved the cars off the freeway. There were only two cars in front of us and I was so tempted to tell the CHP officer that I was in labor and needed to get to the hospital ASAP and ask if we could just go (the left lane was open, but they weren't letting anyone get by). In the end, I decided to just sit there and wait (my brother said that the officer probably wouldn't have let me through anyway and wouldn't have been very happy about me getting out of the car and approaching him).

We finally arrived and checked into the hospital at about 3:30. The nursing staff were anxiously waiting for us to arrive and called the doctor immediately to let him know I had made it. When my doctor stopped by the room to see how I was doing and how far dilated I was. I was only at a 6-7, so he broke my water since I still wasn't in a good labor pattern (i.e. no regular, consistent contractions).

Samuel realized that he forgot a few things and wanted to get a game to watch since there was a VCR there and he wanted to catch up on a few he had missed. I told him to go ahead and go home and have my mom come and hang out with me until he got back.

Anyone who has heard my previous birth stories, knows that I DO NOT have fast deliveries. Sammy's birth took 32 hours. Hannah's was a bit faster (16 hours) , but was so arduous and the contractions were unmanageable (piggy-backing, off the charts, lasting anywhere from 4-5 minutes with only a short break in between) that I literally thought I would die.

I felt quite comfortable letting Sam go home and miss the boring parts of labor--just me walking around, trying to get things moving and get this baby out.

My doctor checked me again at 6pm and said I was at an 8 and would be ready to deliver in 30 minutes. I scoffed at the idea. 30 minutes?? Who did he think this was giving birth? I started to get a little concerned since Sam still wasn't back, so I called and told him to hurry up--fortunately, he was already on the road. I was also getting a little concerned about the pain. Or maybe I should be more specific...the lack thereof. My contractions were no more than 45 seconds long and were barely peaking. And I had about a 2 minute break between each one. Nothing like any of my previous labors.

As I mentioned, Hannah's birth, while faster than Sammy's, was so much more painful. And I wasn't prepared for those off the chart contractions. I was in transition with Hannah for 45 minutes and those were the most painful 45 minutes of my life. I didn't want to do that again.

So even though I totally believe in unmedicated births, I told the nurse to call the anesthesiologist up here to give me an epidural because I refused to go through what I went through with Hannah.

She was shocked.

"You're doing so well--you're already at an 8!" (Can I just say, that having delivered two previous children at the same hospital, unmedicated, this was the most encouragement I had ever received from a nurse who worked there? The rest of them all thought, and pretty much told me to my face, that I was crazy).

I told her that I was aware of how well I was doing, but with my last birth going from 8-10cm almost killed me and I didn't want that to happen again.

She asked me again if I was sure and I told her yes. The anesthesiologist came up, took my vitals and was getting his stuff together when my doctor came in and me asked why the anesthesiologist was there. I told him I didn't want to have the unbearable pain that I had with Hannah and since I was at an 8, I wanted to get the epidural before the pain began. He told me that I was already at a 10 and would deliver soon. I again scoffed at him and told him to go ahead and check me--even though it had only been about 20 minutes. He checked me. I was at 10cm. He told the anesthesiologist to leave.

I don't quite remember when Sam arrived, but he DID make it before the baby arrived. It always takes them a while to get everything all set for the delivery anyway.

The only painful part was that even though I was already at a 10, the baby hadn't come down yet and I had no urge to push. My doctor had me just start pushing to help her down (if I had been in my right mind, I would have said no and gotten up out of bed and walked around so gravity could work it's magic, but you lose your common sense during labor/delivery which is why it's always a good idea to have a doula there to help you out! Missed you Valerie! I could have used you right then!)

Anyway, pushing is awful when there is no urge and it took 10 minutes (vs only 2 pushes with Hannah), but sweet baby Helene made it at 6:37pm in all of her 8 lb 3.5 oz and 21 inches of glory.

I remember how little she felt when they gave her to me and how much she looked like Sammy. I was so thrilled that I was right in my guess that we were having a girl since we didn't find out beforehand.

And I was so happy that she was my fastest (and least painful) delivery.

Happy Birthday Sammy!

I'll admit it.

Sometimes I miss this little boy.

But I'm so excited to watch him grow up right before my eyes.

Happy 6th Birthday to my sweet baby boy! I love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The kids all changed their clothes the minute we got home from church before I could get a picture, so here is this adorable little one from Hannah's party at school.

Now if it was just a heart or valentine in her hand instead of a magnifying glass...

Valentine's Party!

I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but Hannah's preschool class has all girls in it. 17 of them to be exact.

I guess it sometimes makes for some amount of drama at times (they even have a classroom mantra of "No Drama" and they each put their hands under their chin in a little pose. Too funny), but it really is cute to see them all interact with each other. There are lots of hello hugs and goodbye hugs and lots of princess talk. I had to laugh when all her Valentines from school were either Disney Princesses or Barbie. Love it.

Thursday was her Valentine's Day party and she was all ready for it.

A little down time reading books before the party started

I admired some of the the decorations while they were setting up

These really turned out so cute!

Time to eat!

It takes some concentration to get that pesky straw in the juice box!

Sisterly love

Helene got to play a little bit in the playhouse area

I love this face

Hannah got to be a helper and pass out the Valentines

She had such a great time and just loves her preschool class!
I'm so glad she enjoys it as much as she does...now if it was just all day instead of only 3 hours.

simple joys

While sitting at the computer, I noticed how quiet Helene was. I decided I should probably go see what she was up to.

I found this

The kids got so much candy yesterday from all their Valentines from school that this was just lying around and she figured out pretty quickly how to get the wrapper off and taste how yummy it was.

I love how excited she is about her first lollipop
(although I know her dad is having a heart attack reading this right now...sorry Sam...I did take it away and clean her up after the pictures!!)
But just look at that face!!

Rainy Day Fun

Krista and I made plans to go to The Huntington on Friday, but after seeing that rain was on the way, we decided that we would stay inside to make sugar cookies and let the kids decorate them.

The kids and I still managed lunch at In-N-Out (albeit with a 35 minute wait at the drive-thru due to the rain) and then it was off to Krista's house.

They had a great time just playing on the floor

Helene and Krista's little girl are just a few weeks apart

Hannah decided she wanted to help roll out the cookie dough

LOVE the flour all over her shirt and jeans

The girls had fun decorating cookies and it was fun to have
Grace and Ellie over to play too

So cute!

Then Krista bought out a parachute for even more fun

And there was also a little bit of hiding

Love this picture!

Who knew some ribbon could provide so much entertainment?

Today it was still pouring, so after
Sammy's haircut this morning,
we were off to McDonald's for breakfast and a little playtime

As always, there was some grouchiness from Hannah about wanting to play with one of Sammy's Matchbox cars that he brought, but not liking the one he gave her

And as always, she was over it about 5 minutes laterSammy was in action pretty much the entire time
Back home for Helene's naptime...and hopefully one for me as well!